Michigan DB Makari Paige: 'We want to be better than last year's defense'
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football graduate safety Makari Paige is back for his fifth season of college football. He opted to return rather than head to the NFL solely because he wanted to be featured in EA Sports’ new video game … not really.
“Nah, I’m playing,” Paige said with a laugh. “I just wanted to get better at football, so I just felt like this opportunity to come back will help me improve on what I need to improve on.”
Michigan has an entirely new defensive staff under head coach Sherrone Moore, with coordinator Wink Martindale leading the charge overall and secondary coach LaMar Morgan working with Paige and the defensive backs. With that come changes, but Paige said the players are keeping things the same.
“It’s definitely different — different coaches, different people,” Paige explained. “But it’s still the same culture in the building, as a defense and as a team overall. It’s different, but it’s kinda [the same].”
That includes the standard that Michigan set for itself. Last season, the Wolverines went 15-0 and won the national championship. The defense shined, leading the nation in points (10.4) and yards (247) allowed per contest and points given up per drive (0.96). Yet, the Wolverines have their sights set even higher.
“It’s going really well, honestly,” Paige said of Michigan’s spring practices. “Guys are hungry still — not complacent. I feel like that’s what we need as a defense to keep achieving what we need to achieve. We want to be better than last year’s defense, so that’s our goal right now.”
A leader on the Michigan defense that lost its three captains from the 2023 season in tackle Kris Jenkins, linebacker Michael Barrett and defensive back Mike Sainristil, Paige and others have stepped up. Their job is to hold their teammates to the high bar that they’ve set.
“There’s definitely a standard here, and as players it’s our job to hold everybody accountable,” Paige explained. “We can’t have a player not do something and not have accountability with it.”
He’s not the only one that has elevated as a leader.
“I’ll say [senior safety] Rod Moore has stepped up big time,” Paige noted. “[Senior running back] Donovan Edwards, [junior tight end] Colston Loveland, KG [junior defensive tackle Kenneth Grant], [junior defensive tackle] Mason [Graham], [senior EDGE] Josaiah Stewart, [junior EDGE] Derrick Moore. A lot of guys, honestly. I feel like this team is going to have a lot of player leaders. That’s what we need.”
Moore has been a leader throughout his career, and his football IQ is off the charts. Martindale recently said his smarts remind him of six-time Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle, who was with Martindale in Baltimore from 2016-18. However, reports indicate that Moore suffered a torn ACL in practice this week.
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Michigan saw graduate safety Quinten Johnson return for a sixth season after initially declaring for the NFL Draft. His return is even more crucial with Moore set to miss (at least) the majority of the 2024 campaign.
“I was definitely excited with Quinten coming back,” Paige said. “He brings a lot of experience. He’s a veteran, like I am myself. He’s a smart football player. Having him back was what we needed.”
The Wolverines are only four practices into spring ball, so Paige is excited to see what’s to come in terms of scheme and style. However, he’s already gleaned a lot about his new coaches, and he’s been pleased with them so far, starting with Martindale.
“He’s a good coach, great coach,” Paige said of Martindale. “He’s very smart, and he’s also got a funny side to him; he’s very funny, too.”
Morgan, who joined the Michigan staff after serving as the defensive coordinator at Louisiana, has also made a good impression.
“He’s a cool guy, a good coach,” Paige said. “He’s a smart man, honestly, I can tell you that. I’ve learned a lot so far from him over these last couple weeks. He’s definitely a good coach.”
